Of Sea Serpents
by Ailis Ceana
Summary: Lucy is curious about Edmund's fear of sea serpents. When she asks Peter for the story behind it, she gets more than what she bargained for. Movie-verse.


_**A/N: I was looking through files from my old computer, and I found this little gem. It's a little one-shot/drabble in which I explore Edmund's "sudden" fear of sea-serpents in VoDT, the movie. I had it go through some editing, so it's more intelligible than the original. Hope you like it!**_

_**Disclaimer: Can I at least own the sea serpent, since I can't have the Pevensies? No? Okay...**_

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Lucy sighed as she held her notebook back to look at her finished drawing. She decided to draw as many memories of Narnia as she could when Peter had told her some of their adventures were becoming blurry to him.

She scrutinized the details of the dragon-head bow of the_ Dawn Treader_ and smudged away a stray line from the symbol on the mast's flag. Her eyes lingered on the monster rising on the port side of the ship. She drew it perfectly. How could she not? It haunted her sometimes—seeing Edmund nearly caught in its jaws during his stupidly brave stunt.

"Peter, can I ask you something?" Lucy said, setting down her sketchbook on a small tea table to look at her older brother.

He was currently absorbed in fixing Edmund's broken torch—the one he had lost in Narnia, then retrieved from Narnia on their latest voyage. The bulb was loose and kept flickering when it was turned off. Peter claimed Edmund did it on purpose and was attempting to fix it. "Sure, Lu."

Lucy pursed her lips. "Do you happen to know why Edmund is afraid of sea serpents?"

Peter's brows knit together as he looked up at her. "Sea serpents?"

"Was it something that happened in Narnia the first time? Did he ever encounter—"

"Oh," Peter breathed, a spark of realization in his eyes. "Sea serpents."

Lucy waited for him to elaborate, but he only returned to the torch. Normally, she would not bother to ask him further. There were many fears that remained between the two brothers alone. However, after nearly getting killed by an enormous sea monster from Edmund's imagination, she really wanted to hear the story behind it. She didn't want Edmund to feel guilty about the incident, so she avoided asking him.

"Well?" she prodded.

Peter shrugged. "Just a story when he was a kid, probably."

"I don't think so, Peter," she frowned. "And I can tell when you're lying! You're horrible at it."

Peter sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "All right! There is more to it. It _started_ with a story. Dad told us the story of the Loch Ness Monster when we were younger as a bedtime story. Edmund was only about six years old at the time. He could never pronounce 'Loch Ness', so Dad started to say 'sea serpent' instead. Well, Edmund didn't quite like the idea of sea serpents…but I did."

Lucy's eyes grew wide. "Peter, what did you do!"

"It was an accident! If anything, blame Dad."

"You still think it was an accident, huh?" Another voice interrupted before Lucy could scold Peter further.

"Edmund!" she chuckled nervously. "We were just talking about—"

"The sea serpent thing. I could hear you from the kitchen," Edmund said, rolling his eyes. He stepped onto the porch and took a seat next to Peter. "Well, Pete, would you like to tell our little sister of how you traumatized me, or shall I?"

"I didn't traumatize you!"

"It nearly got us killed," Edmund replied calmly.

"That was due to your own strange imagination, Ed."

Lucy cleared her throat before the argument grew heated. "Could one of you get to the point, please?"

Peter glanced at Edmund before going on. "When we were at the beach, soon after the whole Loch Ness Monster thing, I threw a toy snake at Edmund when we were in the water. He started crying, but he got over it."

Edmund gripped the arms of the chair. "Threw it at me? He came up behind me and wrapped it around my waist before tugging me down into the water."

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "This isn't just you being melodramatic, is it, Edmund?"

"Melodramatic?" he scoffed. "Lucy, Mum and Dad shielded you from the horror who is now our overly-responsible older brother."

Peter stood, his mouth agape. "You think I was a _horror_?"

"You went through a phase," Edmund shrugged. "We all did—except Lucy."

"I was a very good child, Edmund. You just couldn't take one joke—"

Edmund stood as well. He was now Peter's height, so they stood head to head, mirroring each other's frustrated expressions. "I will do it, Peter. I will end this argument."

Lucy sighed. This was not going to end well for one of them.

Peter rolled his eyes. "What? Are you going to challenge me to a duel? We all know who the better fencer is."

Edmund's lips turned upwards in a half smile, and his eyes glinted. Lucy knew that look.

"Mum! I have a question!" Edmund called without looking away from Peter.

Peter suddenly paled. "You wouldn't dare."

Edmund's smile grew wider. He turned on his heel and made his way into the kitchen. "Mum! Was Peter the perfect child when he was a younger?"

"Edmund! You will pay for this!" Peter shouted, chasing after the younger boy and leaving Lucy alone on the porch.

Lucy looked down at her sketch. She turned the page to a portrait of her brothers in their armor. They were noble and brave soldiers. They met battle head on, side by side. They sat together in the late hours of night to resolve a crisis in Narnia. They helped each other through the nightmares of war, even now, in England. But, there were some days-some moments-when they were just typical brothers.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as Edmund's laughter echoed in the air from the kitchen to the porch, shortly followed by Peter's indignant groans.

Lucy shook her head. "Aslan, what have I done?"

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_**A/N: Things get serious when Mum is called. Hope you enjoyed! Do you have any of your own Movie-verse theories/headcanons concerning Edmund's fear? I'd love to hear it in a review. :) **_

_**Ta-ta!**_


End file.
